TEXAS LEGISLATURE: Debate: Broaden sales of raw milk?

Producers could market it off farm under House Bill 46

AUSTIN — State lawmakers got a tall glass of comment when they discussed expanding raw milk sales in Texas at a House hearing this week.

Proponents applauded House Bill 46 for allowing free enterprise and access to a food considered by many to be healthy, but others challenged the bill as vague and a possible threat to public health.

Customers must drive to dairy farms to get raw milk, but the new legislation would let farmers sell raw milk in places such as farm stands, county fairs and farmers markets. It would not allow sales at retail establishments.

"Raw milk is legal," said state Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Canton, the author of the bill. Nine other state representatives have signed on.

"It's just that folks have been restrained in that they only could sell it at their farm," Flynn said. "And if you think about some of you who live in the Houston or Dallas areas, and here in Austin, many of those farms are two hours away. So the consumer has to drive out to whoever is selling them their product, and it would be a lot safer, and it's a free enterprise issue for someone to be able to buy a product that is legal and it's something that they want."

The pasteurization of milk — heating it to a high temperature to kill pathogens — has been done for more than a century. It was initially instituted to prevent spread of tuberculosis through milk, but other preventive methods have eliminated bovine tuberculosis.

Many public health authorities argue that pasteurization of milk continues to be necessary to prevent the spread of listeria, salmonella and other dangerous bacteria.

Proponents of raw milk say that properly refrigerated and handled milk is not dangerous, and they oppose pasteurization because it removes some of milk's nutritional value.

Texas has had six illnesses related to raw milk over a period of 20 years, said Judith McGeary, executive director of the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, citing the Department of Health State Services and national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

She said about 750,000 people in Texas drink raw milk.

Janet Lane, manager of the food-safety program for Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services, said she opposed the bill because of health concerns, noting that E. coli and salmonella have been found in raw milk.

Robert Hutchins, a rancher in Greenville, said he has a 300-acre farm that has served as his sole source of income for 14 years. He raises grass-fed beef, pasture-raised pork and poultry and operates a raw goat-milk dairy.

"We're not able to deliver our milk," Hutchins said. "All customers have to make the drive. I'm predicting that if we can sell our milk at our current farmers markets, to which we already travel every week, we could double or triple sales."

Steve Killen, the CEO of the Texas Environmental Health Association, opposed vagueness within the bill's language about where the sale of raw milk would be allowed and how milk might be regulated.

One 11-year-old girl from Houston said raw milk helped her with eczema, with rashes and open sores, and dietitian Anna Macnak encouraged foods such as raw milk over fast food.

"Increasing the access to fresh, minimally processed, nutrient-dense food is essential for the treatment and prevention of chronic disease," Macnak said.

Dr. Edward Sherwood, of the Texas Medical Association and the Texas Pediatric Society, spoke against the bill, saying children could be more at-risk. The groups asked for more labeling and regulations on transporting the milk.

"We believe people should have accurate information so that they are capable of making wise choices about what risks they choose to take and not take," Sherwood said.

Dan McCreary, who oversees milk issues for the Department of State Health Services, said the number of dairies that could get milk licenses could increase to 99 from the current 49, requiring two more inspectors and a microbiologist to handle the workload at a cost of a few hundred thousand dollars a year.

Lawmakers on the House Public Health Committee questioned whether dairies would increase that much.

Darren Turley, executive director of the Texas Association of Dairymen, testified and asked for more milk testing, labeling and record-keeping.

"You're seeing the groundwork for what is going to be a new market," Turley said.